Benji's Piano Bar and Lounge
by MonstersAreReal
Summary: AU. Every Friday, Blaine comes into Benji's Piano Bar and Lounge a few blocks down from his old college building at NYU. He hangs up his jacket ties a black apron around his waist and heads behind the bar to work until around 8:30pm. It's the same routine over and over, until a mysterious stranger comes into the bar and cannot take his eyes off of Blaine.
1. Part One

**Hey guys! I'm back with a new one! This is part one of two and will be updated the same time next week I imagine.**

**This has been chillin' in my documents folder for some time now and I decided to just get it posted.**

**Many thanks to my amazing beta, as always, IthinkIjustgleedmyself.**

**Warning: A lot of bad language is used, mainly because I swear like a sailor, I apologise if that's not your style.**

* * *

Every Friday, Blaine comes into 'Benji's Piano Bar and Lounge' a few blocks down from his college building at NYU. He hangs up his jacket, leaves his shoulder bag in the back room, ties a black apron around his waist and heads behind the bar to work until around 8:30pm.

His brother comes in about 7:45pm after work and settles at the bar, nursing a scotch. Blaine has recently found himself doing the stereotypical 'clean down the bar with a cloth and asks strangers about their daily troubles'. He's learnt a lot about random people by working there.

Most of the people that come to the bar are college students –but the less rowdy, more polite college students- and he knows a fair few of his customers by name. However most students tend to avoid upscale places and go for the trashy bars downtown, he can't say he's disappointed that all the idiot kids don't come in all the time.

A lot of tourists also come in looking for the best singers and bars in New York City. It's fun speaking to tourists, hearing about the variety of places where they live, and Blaine is constantly fascinated by their different accents. He's met so many different types of people working at the bar since his junior year in college, three years ago.

He's just finished speaking to a couple from London when his brother walks through the door, scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, still decked out in his suit from a day in the office. Cooper takes a seat a few places down from the couple Blaine was talking too and taps his fingers impatiently on the smooth glass bar.

"Excuse me." He says to the couple, who nod in response and then he sets off toward his brother, gathering the things needed for Cooper's regular drink as he goes along the bar. "How's work?" He says as he reaches his brother and stops, pouring a classic scotch into Cooper's glass, filling it with a little bit of water to enhance the flavours –just the way his brother likes it, and also making it a double because Cooper looks like he's going to face plant the bar any second.

"Crap as ever." Cooper grumbles, accepting the scotch and guzzling almost half of it down before he speaks again. "I'm working on this really tough case and I don't know if I'm gonna win it."

"Is it the assault one?" Blaine questions whilst wiping down the small area of the bar next to where Cooper is sat –his brother is a lawyer and Blaine has to listen to all his stories all the time, most of the time they are interesting and he loves hearing about it. But also Cooper gets super stressed and it upsets him seeing his brother so strained.

The English couple he was talking to before have left by now and their empty glasses are sitting at the other end of the bar. Blaine really needs to clean them up.

"Yeah, God it's so hard." Cooper drops his head in his hands and drags his fingers through his hair.

"You'll get through it."

Cooper lifts his head, his eyes tired looking and his mouth forming a slight smile "How are you doing anyway?" Blaine knows there's more to the question than meets the eye. He has just recently broken up with his boyfriend of three months - well broken up, more like walked in on him with another guy on his couch, _butt naked_.

"I'm doing fine, Coop. Work's tough and it's keeping me occupied." Blaine sighs.

"Anderson!" Blaine turns to the side at the sound of his boss's voice. Benji, with his long hair and tattoos, comes strolling up toward Blaine, smacks him on the ass with his cloth and then shouts: "This work should be keeping you occupied right now, get your fat ass working!" Blaine does _not _have a fat ass.

"Benji!" Cooper calls and they fist bump and hug over the bar as Blaine cleans his way down the bar, reaching the empty glasses and putting them in the dirty glass crate ready to be taken to the dishwasher.

Another group of tourists arrive and Blaine serves them with a kind smile and an open ear. They tell him about their week long period in New York and how they don't want it to come to an end. They're Italian and don't speak much English - its lucky Blaine is fluent in Italian and all the women fawn over him as he speaks in their native tongue.

"_Grazie,_" He thanks them as they gather their drinks.

"_Prego_." They thank him and wander around the bar to find an empty table big enough to hold all six of them. Though, not before two of the younger girls slip him their cell phone numbers. He smiles to himself before tucking the two napkins into his apron pocket never to be looked at again.

"More girls?" Benji comes up behind him and taps him on the shoulder, smirking at him. Blaine's eyes lift up and they scan around the room for where the group of Italians have taken seats near the front of the stage. Great, Blaine has to perform there in like, half an hour.

"Maybe you need to get out more, bro!" Cooper yells across the bar as the music has just gotten a little louder as more people have entered the lounge in preparation for Blaine's performance.

"Oh shut it. _I_ get more girls than you, asshole." Blaine replies, flinging the cloth in his hand at Cooper's head.

"Oh snap!" Benji giggles. "You've got about fifteen minutes until you need to get on that stage and set up." He informs Blaine, slapping his ass again and then wandering around the lounge to ask anyone if they needed any more drinks. Benji, being the owner of the bar and lounge, doesn't do much apart from bully his staff and, on a Friday and Saturday night, Blaine is his number one target –though on Saturday his friend performs with him so it's not all that bad, she despises Benji and so it's hilarious watching them bicker like a married couple.

"Alrighty." Blaine tugs the apron from around his waist, goes to the back to hang it up and then heads to the back of the stage to grab his guitar and set up.

He sound checks for a few minutes backstage before Benji comes out complaining that he needs to get on stage right now. He rolls his eyes at him as he steps out into the dimly lit room with a purple haze to its wall lights.

The bar has filled up since he went backstage, probably with regulars who come to see him perform every Friday night. He does recognise some faces, but doesn't know all of their names. The group of Italians are hooting and whooping down in the front, the girls shouting his name, their accents strong. He winks at them and then settles onto the stool in centre stage, hoisting his guitar onto his lap and strumming a few of the chords mindlessly.

"I'm Blaine, and I'm here to perform for you, like I am every Friday night." A few chuckles erupt from the regulars dotted around the room. "I'm surprised you're not sick of me yet."

"I am!" Cooper shouts, nursing a beer now. Blaine flips him off and then scoots himself backwards, strumming his guitar again.

"Okay, well I guess I better get started before my boss shoots me." The Italian group are shouting at him again, he's able to make out parts of what they are shouting, and he figures out its song requests in Italian. He takes a few into consideration for later on in his set and then begins, strumming his guitar into the chords of the first song of the night.

* * *

On Saturday, he strolls into the bar a little late for his shift. Benji doesn't seem bothered by it, but Lily certainly is.

"And just what the hell do you think you're doing strolling in here _fifteen_ minutes late?" She pouts, her eyes popping out of her head as she cocks it to the side, pony tail swinging about behind her.

"Coming in fifteen minutes late." Blaine replies, snarky and sarcastic as he dumps his shoulder bag and tugs his apron around his waist. Lily's stood behind the bar, hands on hips, still pouting.

"Don't get cocky with me Anderson." She waggles her pointer finger in front of Blaine's face as he sets to work in cleaning some of the dirty glasses.

Lily isn't impressed by his attitude and he's getting super curious as to what he could have done, apart from come in work a few minutes late - that is _so_ bad.

"Why the hell are you mad at me for coming in late? It's not like you're on time every Saturday!" He calls from the back where he's putting glasses into the huge industrial dishwasher and switching it on.

"Because," She begins, coming to stand by the door and leaning against the frame. "You just missed _the_ hottest guy in the world." Blaine rolls his eyes dramatically, even though she can't see him from her position. He turns on his heels, packet of dishwasher tablets in hand. "Honestly, if you would have come in on time, you would have seen him. I tried to convince him to wait and I kept talking to him about you, but he said he had to run."

"Yeah, to his girlfriend probably, look Lil, you gotta stop trying to set me up with random guys." Lily looks like she's about to protest but Blaine's way ahead of her. "I'm doing totally fine since his-name-we-shall-not-speak-of, I don't need a boyfriend, let alone a straight one."

Lily huffs loudly and follows Blaine out of the room back to the bar where a few customers are waiting, smiling faces and dollars in hand. Blaine asks them if they have any change instead and they end up dumping a pile of silver and bronze on the bar, asking him to work out what he needs. _Tourists_.

Lily sets to work serving a group of British tourists with beers and wines whilst she watches Blaine closely chat with a few regular customers.

"For starters," She begins when the bar is once again empty. "The guy was so totally gay. Secondly, I am not trying to set you up all the time; I'm just trying to be helpful. And thirdly, you are not fine since _him, _you can deny it all you want, but I wouldn't be fine if I walked in on my boyfriend fucking some other guy."

"Lily!" Blaine sighs and scrubs at a dirty mark on the bar; avoiding eye contact with the girl he calls his best friend.

"I'm just stating the truth." She shrugs her shoulders, her long hair swaying in its pony.

"Yeah, well could you do it a little less, I don't know, _harshly_?" Lily inhales loudly and then exhales a long sigh. She crowds Blaine's space and hugs him from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder - standing on her tip toes, of course. Blaine might be small but he for sure isn't as small as Lily.

"I'm sorry baby, did I upset you?" She coos into his neck, placing little kisses there. "Would you like me to say it in a nicer way?" Blaine pouts his lips in a child-like manner and nods as he continues to clean the bar and ignore her constant kisses as best he can.

"I wouldn't be fine if I walked in on my boyfriend having sex with another guy on his couch." Blaine flinches. No, he doesn't think there is a nicer way to say that. It still hurts to hear it, let alone _think_ it.

"_Thank you_, Lily. That was greatly appreciated." Lily clucks her tongue and skips off to the opposite end of the bar, grabbing the drinks tray.

"Glad I could help!" She winks at him and then sets off around the bar to gather empty glasses or orders from customers too lazy to get up and move a few feet.

Blaine knows that Lily's only trying to help him through his recent –well, it's been four weeks - breakup, she's only being a good friend. But sometimes, her input just isn't needed.

"Anderson, late again I see!" Benji comes up behind Blaine, slaps him on the ass –as usual- and then pours himself a shot of vodka.

"What can I say, Benj, its tough juggling two jobs."

"You don't have two jobs." Benji says, mouthful of potato chips.

"Uh, yeah I do. My week job and this." Blaine corrects the older man, nudging his way past him to serve a woman who has just come up to the bar.

"This isn't a job. You do the bartending for free. You get paid to sing, man." Blaine rolls his eyes whilst pouring a glass of white wine out and then placing it on a bar mat for the woman, accepting her money and giving her back her change. "Where's your other half?"

"He's working tonight." Benji has a strange thing for his brother and they are like always together. That's how Blaine got the job here; Cooper spoke to Benji and asked him for a favour. It's creepy really, how much Benji loves Cooper when he's supposed to be a straight male. But Blaine's positive that if Benji got drunk enough he and Cooper would end up making out or something even more stupid. And he cannot deal with an identity crisis happening with his brother, like ever. So he constantly makes sure to keep Benji away from alcohol whenever Cooper is drunk, or vice versa.

"Shame, I was gonna ask him if he wanted to go on a boy's weekend with me and some of the guys from college. Would you ask him for me?" Benji smiles warmly at Blaine.

"He says no." Blaine smirks in reply. He honestly doesn't like Benji all that much. The only reason he even tolerates the guy is because he pays him good money and is his brother's friend. If Blaine's being honest, Cooper doesn't like him either. Well, it's more like Blaine doesn't like Cooper hanging out with him because he's a creepy pervert who would do anything to get some off of anyone.

And unfortunately with Benji's looks, he _can_ get anyone he wants. Sometimes it really pisses Blaine off. The tattoos up and down his arms attract all kinds of women and his charming smile and gleaming white teeth attract men too. You'd think that Blaine has some unrequited crush on Benji, but that's not true at all. Anyway, if he did Blaine could have easily slept with the guy by now. And he doesn't want to do that anyway: he's not cool with contracting an STD.

"You didn't even ask him." Benji grumbles his voice turning childlike.

"Okay, give me a second, I'll ask him," Blaine turns his body in the direction of Benji, smiles cockily and then turns back to the customers at the bar. "He says no." Blaine repeats.

"Oh fuck you Anderson," Benji slaps him on the ass with his bar cloth again. "I think Lily's ready for you. Either that or someone's got her angry because that veins sticking out of her side of her head again." Blaine glances at Lily, who is stood on the stage, hands on hips, glaring in Blaine's general direction. Once she sees him looking at her she stomps her feet loudly, the click of her heeled shoes echoing through the lounge. He waves, chuckling to himself –wow; he's being super sarcastic tonight.

"Anderson, seriously I'd get over there before she pops that blood vessel." Blaine laughs heartily, untying the apron around his waist and hanging it up on its hook.

He heads over to the small stage, jumping up and wrapping his arms around Lily, nuzzling into her neck, chuckling. She slaps him hard on his arm and then squirms her way out of his grasp.

"You're an asshole, Blaine Anderson. Now go and get your guitar heart throb and rock you're fans worlds." She bats him away until he hops back down and goes through the backstage door to collect his acoustic.

When he returns, after a quick tuning session, the lights have been dimmed and Lily is bouncing around on her stool watching the stage door like a hawk. As soon as Blaine closes it behind him, she jumps up and runs over, the click of her heels causing murmurs around the room.

"Oh my god, Blaine."

"Oh my god what?" Blaine mimics her excited tone and jumps up and down excitedly. Lily kicks him harshly in the shin, stopping his jumping and his cocky attitude that's been drenching his tone all evening. He clutches at his shin and scowls at Lily.

"I'm not telling you now; you can just sit here all night and wonder what I was going to tell you." He shrugs, his eyes darting about the room, lips pursed.

"Okay."

"Oh for god sakes Blaine you are so frustrating tonight!" She slaps him again and he clutches his arm in mock pain.

"Will you please stop hitting me?" He stage whispers. The crowd is getting restless and Benji is side eyeing them, they really need to move this along.

"I will if you listen to me." Lily huffs angrily, but then her face softens when Blaine pulls out the puppy dog eyes. "Okay, fine. Don't look now but three rows from the back, far right corner, it's _that_ guy. He's totally come back to see you perform. I told him to man!" Blaine's eyes automatically dart to three rows back and the far right corner of the lounge. It's pretty dark so he guy's face is shadowed. All Blaine can make out is his shirt; it's purple and silky, and does wonders for his chest. "I said don't look now you douchebag!" Lily goes to hit him again, but Blaine steps backwards with his cat-like reflexes and avoids her.

"Sit your ass down, Lil." He slides gracefully over to his stool and props his guitar up on his lap. Lily sits down a few feet from him in her own stool and picks up her own guitar. They both tap their microphones and Blaine's the first to speak, as usual. Lily's fairly new and it's only thanks to Blaine that she got the gig for every Saturday night.

"Hello everyone!" The microphone crackles to life when Blaine speaks; the stage lights switch on and almost blind them both. It makes the front few rows of the crowd easier to see but not the back rows: which is what Blaine wants to see. "I'm Blaine and this is Lily." He gestures to Lily, who waves her fingers at the crowd. "We're gonna sing some stuff for you both, together and alone and, if you like us, speak to the idiot with the tattoos who owns this place to get our business cards!" Benji shouts something at them, but it's muffled by the laughter from the crowd.

"We're gonna start with a duet of '_Somebody that I used to know_' by _Gotye_."

Blaine starts the opening chords to the song and Lily joins in a few seconds later, strumming the melody. Blaine sings first and then, when it's Lily's part, she sings her heart out.

Throughout the song, Blaine keeps his eyes on the guy in the third row from the back in the far right corner. The guy doesn't move an inch, and the one time that the spotlight runs its course around the room, it happens to miss the guy's face.

When the song comes to an end, Lily hops down from her stool and leans over to whisper in Blaine's ear.

"He's staring at you, has been for the whole song."

"How the fuck can you see him?" Blaine frowns and looks back over; the guy is looking away from the stage, sipping his white wine.

Lily smirks and then sits herself back down, not answering his question. It's Blaine's solo now and he honestly cannot wait. He's been practicing this song for weeks and is super excited to perform it. Also, he really needs to see what this guy looks like.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Blaine Anderson!" Lily shouts down the microphone and then steps backwards into the shadows of the stage, dragging her stool with her so she can sit and watch Blaine perform, like she has been doing almost every other night when he practices at her place with her.

"This song is called '_What kind of fool'_."

When their set is over and they've sang a decent amount of songs between them, they wander back to the bar. Blaine, as soon as he can grab his apron and the drinks tray, heads back out into the lounge, making a beeline for the third row from the back. Unfortunately, he gets stopped too many times by curious customers, who he directs to the bar for his business card.

By the time he reaches where the guy was sat, he's no longer there. An empty wine glass sits at the table on a mat - the only sign that the man was ever there in the first place. He sighs and collects the empty glass, piling it on his tray with the others he's collected along the way.

"Maybe he'll be here next weekend, sweetie." Lily comes up behind and dives on his back, wrapping her tiny legs around his waist.

"I don't even know what you're talking about, Lil." She flicks his ear as he carries her, on his back, back to the bar.

"Sure you don't." She giggles into his ear when he slides her backwards onto the bar and then walks around the other side to put the glasses in the dirty glass crate. Lily flings her legs over the bar and hops down onto the other side, crowding Blaine's space again.

"I don't even know what he looked like, Lil; I was just going off what you were saying. You can't blame me for being a little curious, especially when it looked like you were going to die from excitement." She clucks her tongue and lifts up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

"Like I said; maybe next week."

Yeah, like that's ever going to happen.

* * *

Blaine's had a tough week and so by the time Friday comes around he couldn't be happier, even though he'll be slaving over the bar by himself tonight, with just the company of the glorious Benji. Cooper's having a tough time working on his court case and so he's decided to stay away from civilisation for a while.

He's early to work this week, and he's _never_ early. He's got a feeling tonight's going to be a good night. Maybe he'll get another gig somewhere. Maybe someone will notice him for his music and not just his pretty face –okay, so those words aren't Blaine's, they're Coopers. Blaine does not have_ that_ big of an ego.

A little after seven pm, he strolls into the bar, deciding not to go in as early and stop off at a burger joint for some food. Benji's behind the bar, chatting attentively to a small group of customers.

There is a guy sat alone at the opposite end of the bar, the furthest from the stage and lounge area. He was running his pointer finger around the rim of what looked like a half empty glass of white wine.

"Anderson! Hey, you're early," Benji calls when he spots Blaine hovering by the door, staring at the back of the guy with the white wine's head. Upon hearing Benji's voice, he heaves his shoulder bag back up onto his shoulder and makes his way to the bar, trying to desperately keep his curious eyes away from the guy with the wine.

"What's up with me being early Benj?" Blaine wanders around the back of the bar as Benji shrugs his shoulders and returns back to his conversation with a group of girls. Blaine rolls his eyes; he finds it weird how girls can be attracted to Benji when he's such a douchebag. Then again, he can see the attraction: the tattoos, the longish dark hair and the dazzling blue eyes. Though he isn't Blaine's type at all, Blaine's more of a personality kind than looks and Benji doesn't have a very nice personality.

He heads into the back room to dump his bag on the couch and then ties his apron around his waist. When he walks back out into the bar, it's filled up a little - there are more customers at the bar waiting to be served and Benji is taking no notice of them whatsoever. Blaine shakes his head and begins to serve people's orders.

"You okay here, bro?" Benji comes up beside him and asks him when a good majority of the customers have disappeared, their drinks in hand and their money safely tucked in the register.

"Yeah, you know, after you've had such a good time chatting up the women." Blaine sighs and hands the last customer their beer and vodka and coke.

"Oh, please_ I_ wasn't chatting them up." Benji laughs it off. "_They_ were flirting with me." He pats Blaine on the ass –like he does every freaking week- then leans in closer to whisper something into Blaine's ear.

"That guy over there," He gestures slightly with his head to the end of the bar where the guy is still sat, head in hands now, empty glass sitting a few centimetres in front of him. "He's been here since 6pm and hasn't spoken a word to anyone. That's his second glass of wine and it's really fucking expensive wine too." Blaine isn't one to judge –unlike Benji who would butt in anybody's business- but the guy looks like he could do with a friend.

"I'll watch my back," He tells Benji. "You know, in case he's a psycho, that's gonna lean over the bar and smash the glass over my head."

"Whoa dude, that's an elaborate imagination you have there." Benji pats him harshly on the back, shaking Blaine's body with the force of it. Benji's a strong guy, 5 ft 11 and butch as hell, compared with Blaine's titchy 5 ft 7 is a lot of strength.

Benji laughs to himself as he walks off into the back room, probably to sleep for a few hours. The guy literally just lets Blaine run the place; God knows what he does during the week without him here because this place would run into the ground if Blaine wasn't around.

It's weird without Cooper here annoying him, or at least keeping Benji company for the night. Cooper wasn't here last Saturday, but that was different he had Lily with him. Blaine just knows that he's going to be bored out of his mind tonight, and to think that he thought it would be a good night.

He notices the guy with the wine –or now empty wine - is getting a little restless and so, being the caring person he is, he wanders over to see if he needs another drink or maybe even a friendly conversation.

"You want another drink?" Blaine's voice appears to startle the man, who jumps and almost falls off his seat. Blaine reaches out to grab hold of his arm to help him back up. The guy's face turns beetroot red with embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Blaine lets the guys arm go and steps back a few paces from the bar, just in case he startles him again.

"It's fine." The guy mumbles, keeping his head down, but Blaine can still see the red blush on his neck. "And yeah, another drink would be great thanks." Blaine nods and asks him what he was drinking. The man tells him, and he goes about preparing and refilling his empty glass. The man fishes in his pocket for presumably his wallet but Blaine just holds his hand out and shakes his head.

"This one's on the house."

"What is it? Buy two get one free?" Blaine's surprised he can actually hear the guy speak: it's pretty loud in the bar now the music has been turned up and the guy is speaking really quietly.

"No, it's 'you look like you need a free one', and maybe a friendly face. Something bothering you?" He finally looks up and Blaine has to bite his lip from letting the sound of the air being knocked from him become audible. He's got striking blue eyes, highlighted by perfectly angled cheekbones, plump red lips, a cute little button nose and intricately coifed hair that appears to have been done professionally, though it's probably not.

"Yeah actually, there is." He feels like he's put his foot in it. Maybe he should just leave the guy alone: he doesn't really sound like he wants to talk to anyone right now.

"I really don't want to bother you." Blaine's not noticed this – bearing in mind he hasn't really spoken to him that much – but, when the guy takes a slip of his wine, his angelic voice becomes a little gruff, and _wow_ does that do things to Blaine it totally shouldn't.

"You're not bothering me."

"Is talking about your customers problems in the job description?" Blaine laughs and wipes down the bar in the stereotypical manner. The guy smiles into his wine glass as he lifts it to sip some, revealing his pale neck, which looks so smooth Blaine just wants to lean over and lick it –_whoa._

"Probably," He laughs, "But seriously, I'm a nice guy; I'm also a great listener." The guy – or as Blaine has now decided _White wine guy _- looks up and meets Blaine's eyes with his own. The share a look and then both turn away, his cheeks flushing a little. And for Blaine that's just weird because he never blushes, he never gets embarrassed.

"Work's tough right now, there's this guy what will not leave me alone and my boss is on my ass 24/7," As if by magic the guys phone buzzes and he rolls his eyes slowly. "See what I mean?" He reaches into his pocket, gives one look at the caller ID and then clicks it off, and throws it back in his pocket. "I am not even dealing with her tonight."

"My brother's going through a tough time at work too. It sucks being stressed all the time. Where do you work?" Blaine asks, curiosity getting the best of him.

"I'm an editor at _Vogue_." Blaine puffs out a breath of air.

"Wow, that's a –yeah that's gotta be a tough job." The guy waves his hand about and laughs before taking a sip of his wine.

"It's my dream job, but sometimes it gets to that point where I just want to yell 'I quit'!" Blaine laughs - he understands the feeling. He works two jobs because he's struggling to find anything in the career path he wants to go in.

"I know the feeling," Blaine admits. There is a customer waiting to be served down at the opposite end of the bar, and he has to excuse himself from his conversation. He doesn't really want to; he wants to keep talking to White wine guy, but duty calls.

He quickly serves the man and his girlfriend their drinks. Upon his return, White wine guy has almost finished this third drink.

"You should really slow down with those. It's pretty strong wine." Blaine smiles at him, stretching over the bar to grab the tray of dirty glasses that have just been set on the bar in front of him.

"Yeah well, I'm allowed to get a little tipsy, thank you very much. I'm a grown man." White wine guy sloshes what's left in the bottom of his glass about before downing it.

"You're not just gonna get tipsy on that, you're gonna be on the floor by the end of the night." Blaine raises his eyebrow and smirks to the guy, who in return clucks his tongue and waves his glass in the air, signalling Blaine to get him another drink.

He laughs quietly to himself, raising his pointer finger and shouting to White wine guy that he'll be back in a minute. He heads into the back of the bar where the huge dishwasher is and deposits the dirty glasses in there, not before emptying out the clean ones and putting them in the crate to take them back out to the bar.

White wine guy is still sat at the bar by himself when Blaine comes back, crate of clean glasses in hand that just need to be wiped over and put in their respective places.

"You gonna get me that other drink now?" White wine guy calls to Blaine.

"How about you drink coke or water for a little while?" Blaine sighs and picks up a tall glass, cleans it with a fresh cloth, places it down in front of the guy and fills it with soda. "Now drink that instead."

White wine guy frowns, but proceeds to sip the soda. Blaine goes about his job, wiping over the glasses and then putting them in their spots under the bar.

"So, I'm guessing you don't work here all the time then? I come in here sometimes during the week and I haven't seen you about. And I'd remember your face." Blaine freezes; he doesn't know whether that was meant to come out the way it did. When he looks to White wine guy he's blushing again, his head resting on his hand.

"I'm sorry; I guess I'm a little drunk." Blaine laughs and then continues with his cleaning.

"It's fine. But you're right; I don't work here during the week. I only work here on Fridays and Saturdays. My brother is friends with the owner so he got me a job on the weekends," Blaine pauses to bend down and put the glasses he's just been cleaning away. "I work on Broadway." White wine guy's eyes widen and look intrigued.

"It's not as exciting as it sounds," Blaine continues. "I'm kind of like a slave for the set guys. I work backstage making sure everything's sorted before and during the shows." The guy nods.

"Yeah, not as exciting." White wine guy giggles into his glass, swaying a little in his seat and, oh okay, he's a little drunk.

"Well, I'm working toward my dream job, in more ways than one." He tells him, whilst continuing to wipe the glasses over and then put them away.

"Anderson! Get your cute ass up on that stage!" Benji pops his head round the corner of the door and shouts to Blaine.

"Then get your ass out here Benj, stop pissing about and do your job!" Blaine yells back and sets his glass last down. "Sorry, duty calls." He tells White wine guy who is smirking at him.

"Go ahead, _Anderson_."

"It's Blaine. Benji likes to be an asshole. I didn't catch you-"

"That's right I _am_ an asshole, Anderson, the asshole that _pays_ you. Now get on that stage and do your job Mister!" Blaine tugs off his apron and flings it at Benji's head.

"I guess I'll catch you later." He calls back to White wine guy and then turns to Benji and says; "And don't let him have any more wine," loud enough for White wine guy to hear him.

White Wine Guy brushes him off with a smile and follows Blaine all the way to the stage where he disappears into a door and returns a few seconds later, the lighting extremely dim, a guitar in hand.

He watches Blaine through his whole set, singing and smiling and talking to the audience. He's mesmerised by him, the way he sounds, his eyes when the spotlight shines on him. He saw him perform last week and he was amazing then with his friend Lily.

Blaine keeps his eyes on White Wine Guy for a good proportion of his set too. He likes when he catches White Wine Guy staring at him. The few times he's caught him doing it the guy blushes profusely and turns away, burying his head in his soda. Blaine's glad Benji listened to him and only gave the guy soda.

When his set is over, Blaine puts his guitar back in the room and then comes back to work behind the bar the last hour or so. He searches for White wine guy but he isn't anywhere in the room.

He questions Benji on his whereabouts and Benji tells him that literally the second Blaine finished his last song, the guy was up and out, leaving nothing but a $20 bill on the bar and a note written on a napkin that said; 'Couldn't accept that free drink. Thanks for a lovely talk.'

Blaine wishes he would have left his name, White wine guy as a name was not suitable and, if he ever actually called him that, he would be seriously embarrassed. But then again, he probably wouldn't see him again.

* * *

**Ughhhh, I know it's been a while but I will always feel like a broken record when it comes to this; reviews are welcomed as always! **

**Stay tuned guys, Part Two coming soon. **


	2. Part Two

**Hello y'all!**

**So this is the second and final part to this. Hope you all enjoyed the first part & will enjoy the second just as much. More happens in the second part too :) It gets interesting!**

**Also, someone please, if you have seen any of the Glee spoilers for this weeks episode, help keep me sane. I won't post anything about them here in case some of you are remaining spoiler free. But WHAT? Please, come and chat to me, preferably on my Tumblr, because I'm hardly here, but please keep me thinking logical. I know it's only one more day until I see what happens, but I'm going through a tough time and Ryan Murphy is making things worse for me.**

**Anyway, on a fluffier note. Onwards with the story..**

* * *

Blaine walks into his apartment and sees that a light in the living room is still on, which means Cooper is still awake, more than likely slaving away on his laptop, still working.

"Coop?" Blaine shouts out into the apartment. He hangs his jacket on the hook, toes off his shoes and dumps his keys in the bowl on the side table.

"In here!" A voice calls out from somewhere in the living room. He walks in, flicking on the big light as he does so.

"Coop, what are you still doing up?"

"Working," Cooper mumbles his reply, fingers tapping away on the keys of his laptop.

If Blaine said Cooper is a workaholic, it would be an understatement. He works his ass off 24/7 and, even when he's worn out, he still carries on working until the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes it's gotten that extreme that Blaine has had to drag him to bed and lay with him to make sure he actually sleeps. It appears it's going to be one of those nights.

"Come on Coop, you need some rest. You've been at this all day." Cooper holds his finger up to stop Blaine speaking and then types quickly with one hand. Blaine sighs and rests his hands on his hips, waiting patiently until Cooper has decided to finish his work.

"Okay, okay I'm done!" He smiles, clicks the save button and then shuts his laptop down. "I was only staying up until you got home anyway; I had to make sure my baby got home okay." Blaine squints at Cooper; sometimes he really doesn't understand how he can be related to this guy.

"Right, come on." Blaine pats Cooper on the shoulder. "It's like I'm your mother sometimes. Get to bed Mister." Cooper chuckles, picks up his laptop, switches off the lamp beside him and then follows Blaine down the hallway and into his own bedroom.

"How was your night?" Cooper calls from his bedroom. Blaine has just pulled on his sweat pants and old college shirt, so he strolls into his brother's bedroom.

"It was good." Cooper spins on his feet and does a double take.

"Wait a second," he pauses to look the younger man up and down, squints his eyes at him and the smirks. "You only ever say 'it was good' when you get another gig from someone else or when you've met someone. So which is it?"

"What? Cooper, it's _none_ of them!" Blaine leans against the door frame and tries to hold back the smirk that's forming on his face.

"Oh my God," Cooper runs to him and shakes him by his shoulders, laughing wildly as he does. "You met someone, didn't you? Who is it?" Cooper shouts and literally picks Blaine up around the waist and spins him around with joy.

"Cooper! Put me down!" Blaine smacks at Cooper's shoulders and head. Eventually, he puts him down. "Okay, so _maybe_ I got talking to someone at the bar -" Before Blaine can get any further with his conversation, Cooper's yelping and hopping about his bedroom.

"Oh my God, what's he like?" Cooper is a hell of a lot more excited about this than Blaine is and that's worrying.

"First of all, I don't even know his name; we just got talking at the bar because he looked really lonely."

"Get out." Cooper says, pointing to the door and then grabbing Blaine by the shoulders and pushing him to his bedroom.

"What?" Blaine is utterly confused.

"You don't know his name, how can you be smiling?" Cooper pauses and then spins Blaine back around.

"So what that I don't know his name? He was a nice guy, really good looking and just…" Blaine can't finish that sentence because he honestly doesn't know what White wine guy was like. Yeah, he was nice looking and yeah, he seemed nice enough, but what does he actually know about the guy? _Nothing_. He doesn't even know his name. Why on earth was he happy about meeting him? For all Blaine knows he could be a psychopath.

"Blaine, the only time you're not supposed to know a guy's name is when you're in a club and drunk off your face and have a one night stand. Find out his name next time he comes in then get back to me."

"It's not just Lily trying to set me up, is it?" Cooper looks innocently at his brother.

"Night baby brother." Cooper laughs and blows Blaine a kiss.

He rolls his eyes and wanders into the bathroom. He brushes his teeth, runs water through his hair to release his curls a little more and then heads to bed, all the while trying to keep his mind from straying to thoughts of White wine guy.

It isn't very successful, especially when he falls to sleep thinking about the color of White wine Guy's eyes and the way they sparkled in the dim light of the bar. Blaine can't wait for next week to see if the guy came back. He'll have to speak to Benji and see if he does during the week. Maybe Benji can find out his name for him.

* * *

For the next few Fridays, Blaine only catches glimpses of White wine guy at the bar. He speaks to him a few times, just making polite conversation, but the bar is really busy. Colleges around the area have just started up again and the bar is getting a lot of business from rowdy college kids.

Blaine can't even begin to count the amount of times he and Benji have had to throw out unruly kids and teenagers who aren't even old enough to buy alcohol. Benji really needs to think about getting better security on the door.

More recently, Blaine received an offer from a scout looking for up and coming musicians in the New York area. The offer is to perform some more well-known bars and clubs in Soho and Downtown so, for the last two weekends, he's been blowing off his Saturday night shift –much to Lily's chagrin- and bar hopping around Soho with some others performing at all kinds of bars. And some of them Blaine doesn't even _want_ to think about again.

Now that's over and done with though, he's back to his regular shifts at Benji's, and also back to staring at White wine guy all the time. Well, not all the time, because that would be creepy. That's what Cooper tells him anyway.

This Friday, Blaine's working his ass off behind the bar, since he started his shift at 7pm; the customers have just been flowing one after another. White wine guy –yes, he still doesn't know his name- isn't here yet and, every time the door sounds, Blaine looks over and each time is disappointed that it's not White wine guy.

Cooper is sat at the bar, inputting his annoying comments when they are not needed. Benji has been lingering around the bar too, mainly because Cooper's here. Blaine still finds Benji's man crush on his brother really weird.

Blaine's cleaning glasses with a cloth when White wine guy takes his regular seat at the bar. Cooper whistles under his breath to Blaine and he looks up, spotting White wine guy smiling widely at him.

"Hey, how are you?" He asks him, quickly pacing the bar to find a wine glass and pour the guy his regular drink.

"Hey stranger," White wine guy replies and accepts the drink, sliding a $10 bill across the bar. Blaine takes it to the register and gets the guy his change. "I'm good thank you, how're you?"

"It seems works lightening up on you then, huh?" Blaine smiles, making sure to avoid eye contact with his brother because he just knows he'll be making fun of him right now. And with White wine guy sat across the bar, Blaine certainly does not need that. "I'm good thanks, been a tough few weeks but I've made it through."

"Yeah, I've not seen you here. I asked Benji where you've been but he seemed pretty pissed about it, so I stopped asking." Blaine laughs. Benji _was_ super pissed about it; he had to get Lily to come in on Friday's, and that didn't help because he hates Lily with a passion. Well, he doesn't hate Lily at all, in actual fact he's like totally in love with Lily and Lily isn't remotely interested in him. Sucks to be Benji.

"I got a gig bar hopping around Manhattan for like two weeks, so Benji had to let me have Friday's off. But I'm back now and wow, am I glad I don't have to do that anymore. Bar hopping is tiring man and some of the bars I went in..._Whoa__."_ White wine guy giggles and sips his wine, his eyes never leaving Blaine's.

That is until Cooper clears his throat.

"Oh, right sorry, this is C-" Blaine starts but is interrupted.

"I'm Cooper, this guy's better half." Cooper leans over the bar and ruffles Blaine's hair. Blaine blushes and keeps his head down – God; Cooper can be so embarrassing sometimes.

"Oh, right." White wine guy turns to Cooper and offers out his hand. "It's nice to meet you. Blaine hasn't, uh – yeah, he's not said _anything_ about you." Blaine frowns, because he talks about his brother all the time. Yes, he might be the most annoying person Blaine knows, but he's his brother and he's so proud of him, and he tells everyone about how successful and amazing Cooper is whenever he gets the chance. He finds it upsetting and a little rude that White wine guy doesn't remember their conversation they had a few weeks ago about their family members and annoying brothers - in White wine guy's case, _step_ -brother_._ Then again they didn't mention names, because apparently names aren't important in this world anymore.

"Oh, he probably just doesn't want to boast about how amazing I am." Cooper smiles and pats White wine guy on the shoulder. "So, what's your name then?" Cooper winks at Blaine.

"Uh, listen, I have to go. I'll see you later Blaine." Without another word, White wine guy –still nameless- chugged down a few more sips of his drink and then pulled his coat on and left.

"Well, that was rude." Cooper sighs. "I don't like him Blaine." He leans over to swallow down what's left of the guys drink and then hands it over to Blaine. He takes it and puts it into the crate of dirty glasses.

That was super weird. Blaine knows that White wine guy is mysterious and all but what on earth could have upset him that much for him to leave so abruptly? Blaine hadn't said anything offensive and, as far as he is aware, neither had Cooper. If anyone it should be Blaine storming off because Cooper embarrassed him - _wait, what?_

"Cooper," Blaine runs back over to his brother who has gotten into a conversation with a blonde girl. He apologises to the woman and then drags his brother by the arm to the back room behind the bar. "What did you say to him?"

"What?" Cooper looks baffled and he's trying desperately to break free from his brother's grasp. "Blaine, there is a really hot girl out there, what is wrong with you man?" Cooper tugs his arm one last time and Blaine lets it go free, but he stands in front of him, hand on his chest, making sure he doesn't go anywhere.

"You said to him that you're my better half. Anyone would take that as meaning we're dating!" Blaine shouts and slaps him hard across the shoulder.

"What? Blaine, don't be stupid, we're brothers and…oh shit." Cooper bites his bottom lip to stop himself from laughing.

"Yeah, _oh shit_!" Blaine slaps him again.

"Hey, alright!" He yells and pushes Blaine out of the way. "Sorry man, I mean if he was still here, I'd tell him that I do not want to date my brother, but he left."

"Get out and talk to your blonde woman." Blaine shoves Cooper out of the door and back into the bar.

But instead of following, Blaine slumps down to the floor, the sound of the industrial dishwasher loud enough that it blocks the sound of the music from the other side of the door. Maybe he's looking too deep into things. Maybe White Wine Guy had somewhere to be and he only just noticed the time and was super late. Maybe he felt sick and didn't want to puke up all over the bar. Or maybe, just maybe, Cooper being his stupid loud mouthed doesn't-think-before-he-speaks self, made him think that Blaine and Cooper were dating.

Blaine just wants to curl up in a ball and sleep forever, or at least until he can set things straight with White wine guy.

* * *

"So, I need you to work some week days next week, can you do that?" Blaine spins on his heels so he can face the direction in which the sound of Benji's voice came from.

When he turns around though, Benji is much closer than he expected. He's literally right behind him and now they're stood face to face, breath mingling.

"Benji, move you asshole!" Blaine shoves at Benji's shoulder and manages to push him back a few steps. "Do you not know of something called 'personal space'?"

"No." Benji states, his tone arrogant. "So, can you work some weekdays next week or not?"

"If you get a dictionary and look up the terms personal and space, then yes. What days?" Blaine gets back to work, ignoring Benji's monologue about what days he may or may not be needed. "Why don't you just text me when you need me, okay?" Benji seems happy with that and then wanders off; leaving Blaine alone once again, not that he's bothered. Benji pisses him off more than his own brother, and his brother pisses him off _a lot._

For some reason, Benji's got Lily working tonight and so the girl is bouncing around the bar, taking peoples orders and just being her happy self. It's refreshing seeing her like that, not that it's any different from how she normally is, but still.

She's just dropped off a tray full of dirty glasses and an order for a bunch more drinks when the bar door opens, the creaking noise sounding throughout the lounge. He ignores it and goes to put the now full crate of dirty glasses into the dishwasher.

Whilst he's loading them in – stood on his tip toes because he's too small to reach the top shelf - the door clicks behind him. He spins around and almost drops the glasses his has a hold of.

"Jesus Lil, you scared the crap out of me." Realising it's only Lily, his heart rate returns back to normal and he continues with his work.

"That guy's here." This time Blaine _does_ drop the glass he's holding, but luckily it's only into the dishwasher so no damage is done.

"Cool." Lily comes up beside him, grabs the remaining glasses and quickly puts them in the dishwasher herself, then quickly grabbing Blaine's cheeks.

"He's here with another guy."

Blaine swallows, a lump forming in his throat. "Good for him." Why on earth is he bothered that White wine guy is here with his boyfriend? It's not like he didn't tell Blaine he had a boyfriend. No, actually he _didn't _tell Blaine he had a boyfriend. Maybe it's a new thing. Maybe they're on their first date.

Lily's eyes squint as she frowns at him. He frowns back, glaring at her with just as much force as she is at him. Then, out of nowhere, she raises her hand and slaps him hard on the cheek.

"Ow! Lily, what the fuck was that for?" He runs to the mirror in the room, by the sink, and examines his cheek. Its red, raw and burning. "Lil, why on earth did you do that?"

Lily doesn't reply; she just stands there, hands on hips, still glaring at him.

"Oh, okay the silent treatment. What did I do?" He pleads with her, all the while splashing his cheek with cold water. Wow, does that sting.

"_You,_" she sneers. "Missed four perfectly good chances to find out that guy's name, find out his number and ask him on a freaking date!" Blaine sighs and splashes his cheek with some water again, searching around for some paper towels or a cloth, or anything he can hold over his cheek to stop the pain. That girl might be small, but man does she have a strong slap. He'd hate to be on the wrong side of one of her punches if that's what she's like.

"Oh please, like I ever had a chance." Lily rolls her eyes and stomps out of the room, leaving Blaine alone, once again, with his thoughts. He wonders what the guy with White wine guy looks like. Maybe he has sandy blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes – like his own- and a fantastic fashion sense; a perfect match for White wine guy.

Blaine plucks up the courage –where from he doesn't know - to finally go back out to the bar. After all, he can't stay in here forever: he has orders to make, drinks to serve, White wine guy to ignore. You know; the usual.

Unfortunately, ignoring White wine guy doesn't go to plan, because, as soon as Blaine steps out into the bar, the guy is shouting him over. And wow, his boyfriend is not what Blaine expected at all. Obviously flannel and bad hair styles are his type.

"Blaine, hey!" White wine guy calls as Blaine walks over, hands shoved in his apron pockets, eyes darting about the room looking for Lily, for any kind of support.

"What happened to your face, man?" Flannel guy speaks –and _wow_, Blaine needs to stop making up such eloquent nicknames for these guys.

"Finn," White wine guys slaps Flannel guy – or _Finn_ as Blaine now knows, and why does that name sound familiar? "Don't be rude." He scolds and giggles at _Finn's _reaction.

"It's fine, I um-" _Think of something quick, Blaine! Think!_ "Walked into a door." _Yeah, that was great._ Blaine wants to slap himself, on the same cheek, again, just to feel the pain of the humiliation he's facing right now.

Finn laughs loudly but White wine guy tries to hide his laughter behind his hand.

"No, go ahead laugh, it's fine. I'm just clumsy as hell. Anyway, what can I get you, the usual?" Blaine bites his lip and runs his fingers through his curls.

"Actually I think I'll have a vodka tonic tonight. Finn?"

"Just a beer thanks." Finn goes to root in his jeans pocket for his wallet –and those are definitely not nice jeans - but White wine guy holds his hand out to stop him and gets his own wallet out.

"Don't be silly, Finn, I'll get it." White wine guy hands a $10 bill to Blaine and then tells him to keep the change. Blaine mumbles under his breath.

"Hey, don't mumble B, it's rude." Blaine pushes his tongue to the inside of his mouth and exhales loudly as he turns to find his brother tapping his fingers on the bar and smirking.

"Oh Cooper, hi!" White Wine Guy smiles smarmily and then introduces Finn to Cooper. Blaine tries to ignore the interaction as he hands Finn and White wine guy their drinks and then hands Cooper a beer. He leans over the bar to whisper in his brother's ear.

"Make this right for me. Tell him you're my brother." Cooper nods and gives Blaine thumbs up before starting a conversation with Finn about football. Blaine likes football. Blaine _might _look good in flannel. Blaine could so easily style his hair the way Finn's does. And Blaine also needs to get a life.

"So, my _brother_ here," Cooper emphasizes the word 'brother' and gestures to Blaine, who smiles awkwardly and then wanders down the bar to serve some people, but all the while making sure that he can hear their conversation. "Is a musician, do either of you like music?"

"Wait? You're his brother?" Cooper laughs at White wine guy's question.

"What? Did you think I was his _boyfriend_? Please I could never date him; he's an asshole to live with."

"Cooper!" Blaine yells and gestures with his finger for him to come over. "Thank you for clearing it up but shut up now." Cooper nods and pretends to zip up his mouth and throw away the key. Blaine watches Cooper slide back into his seat and try to pick up the conversation where he left off.

"Uh, Finn, why don't we find some comfier seats in the lounge? See you later guys." White wine guy and Finn smile and wave before leaving to find a seat. Cooper sighs loudly and pretends to wipe sweat off of his forehead.

"You," Blaine leans over to smack Cooper over the head repeatedly with his cloth. "Are," Slap. "A." Slap. "Class A," Slap. "Douchebag!"

"Hey! Violence is not the answer!" Lily comes running and jumps to steal the cloth from Blaine's hands. "Leave him alone." Lily bats Blaine's hands away and manages to get a tight hold on the cloth. "Do you want me to slap you again?"

"She slapped you?" Cooper laughs. "High five me, midget." Lily ignores the offensive comment and high fives him, intertwining their fingers together. Blaine frowns and then tugs Lily away.

"No hitting on my friend." He waggles his finger in front of Cooper's face and then let's Lily push him backwards.

"Okay, guys no fighting." She turns to Blaine after stroking her fingers down Cooper's growing stubble. "Benji's asking for you and I refuse to speak to him: he creeps the hell out of me." Blaine gives one last glare to Cooper, who holds his hands up in surrender, and then he heads to find Benji.

He watches the interaction between Lily and Cooper when he leaves and he just knows something's going on there. Lily is leaning over the bar, head in her hand, chatting to Cooper. Blaine is _not _letting that happen.

* * *

By 7:30pm next Friday, Benji has pissed him off four times, Cooper has remained remarkably to himself, even though three different girls have approached him, and Blaine's gotten six different phone numbers from six different women. He's starting to get really bored. A part of him wishes Lily was here, but a part of him also wishes she wasn't because then he would have to deal with Cooper and her flirting.

He'd spoken to Cooper about that last week when they got home after his shift. He and Lily had spent like all night flirting and making jokes about Blaine. He didn't like it. But Cooper had promised him nothing was going on between them and that they were just friends. Blaine knew it wasn't true; Cooper never really was a good liar.

His week had been one of the worst, most boring, weeks of his life ever. He had to work two days during the week, which meant he was tired from his day job and then his boss was pissed at him. Cooper's big case was Thursday and he had won it, so Cooper was happy, but that didn't cheer Blaine up at all. Cooper had wanted them to go out for a celebratory dinner but Benji had refused to let Blaine have the time off, so that pissed him off even more.

"Who're you texting?" Blaine asks curiously, leaning over to try and peek at his brother's phone, but Cooper quickly moves it out of his view and smirks.

"John from work."

"Really?" Blaine counters. "You smile at John from work's texts like that?" He just wants to wipe that smirk right off Cooper's face, because he knows full well that he isn't texting 'John from work'. Blaine doesn't even think that Cooper works with a 'John'.

"Shut up B." Blaine rolls his eyes and wipes down the length of the bar instead of having to look at his brothers smiling face.

"Hey, Blaine right?" A vaguely familiar voice slightly above his head pulls him from his reverie. He looks up and instantly recognises the face. It's Finn, White wine guy's boyfriend.

"Oh, hey, Finn. What can I get you?" Blaine stops wiping the bar and flings the cloth into the little washing basket in the corner.

"Uh, a beer and a red wine for my girlfriend." Blaine almost chokes on air. _Girlfriend_? What?

"Sure." He stutters, quickly hands a beer to Finn and then fills a glass of red wine to the brim, hands it to the pretty brunette girl, and takes Finn's money.

As soon as they are settled in a seat in the far corner of the bar, Blaine runs to Cooper and shakes him roughly.

"That guy, Finn, he's here."

"Oh, is he? He was cool. He's a Giant's fan." Cooper informs him. Like as if Blaine gives a shit.

"Cooper I don't care. He's not alone, he's with a girl - a girl that he says is his girlfriend." Blaine isn't sure why he's panicking but he is. This guy is so obviously cheating on White wine guy and for him to do it so publically is just nasty. Blaine doesn't think he likes the sound of this _Finn. _he's going to go back to calling him Flannel guy; it seems more offensive.

"Blaine, you need to breathe." Cooper leans over and takes his brothers hands. "So he has a girlfriend. What's the big deal?"

"Cooper, White wine guy is Finn's boyfriend. He's cheating on him and with a _girl._ That's like twenty times worse." Cooper sighs, lets Blaine's hands drop and then walks very slowly around the other side of the bar.

"Just because you got cheated on doesn't mean everyone else is cheating on their partners too." Blaine glares up at his brother. That is _so_ not true. He doesn't think everyone is getting cheated on, just White wine guy, because well Flannel guy just basically introduced Blaine to his 'girlfriend'.

It's not fair and White wine guy has a right to know. What makes it worse is that White Wine Guy could easily walk in at any time, since this is his regular bar, and see his boyfriend with his boyfriend's girlfriend and, _wow_, would that be awkward.

"Blaine, how do you even know this guy is gay?" Okay, so Cooper has a point there. He doesn't know if White wine guy is gay but he's pretty certain he is. After all, Blaine is gay and he can spot a gay guy a mile off. And, as far as he is concerned, White wine guy is gay for sure.

"I just know, okay? And it's not fair if his boyfriend is cheating on him with a _girl!"_

"Uh, excuse me?" A customer is at the bar, waiting to be served, but Blaine is too busy getting his point across to Cooper to even care.

"Look, we can talk about this later, you have work to do." Cooper walks back around the other side of the bar and takes his seat again, pulling his cell phone back out and beginning texting again.

Blaine serves the customer, his eyes lingering on Flannel guy and his pretty girlfriendthe whole time. He watches them interact and they seem pretty much in love. It makes Blaine feel sick. His mind wanders to thoughts of White wine guy and how he's probably working hard or sat at home or even out of town and his boyfriend is here, with a girl, enjoying himself. Blaine vows to himself to tell White wine guy, screw what Cooper says.

* * *

When he next gets the chance to see White wine guy, it's in two weeks' time and on a Saturday evening. Lily is working behind the bar with them because, for some reason, these last few months have been so hectic and Benji never has enough employees. But that's how he makes all his money.

White wine guy is sat alone at the bar when Blaine returns from taking people's orders and handing them in to Lily. Lily makes sure to swap places with them when he comes back.

Before Blaine brings himself to even look in White wine guy's general direction, he gives the orders he's just taken to Lily and sends her on her way. But not without her glaring at him and giving him her most evil stare. He knows what he has to do – or rather what he _wants _to do, Lily isn't going to stop him now.

It's actually White wine guy that starts conversation with Blaine first. Blaine plays it cool.

"Oh, hey!" Blaine plasters a fake smile on his face. "I didn't even notice you there!"

"Sure you did," White wine guy chuckles. "You and Lily we're just staring at me." Okay, _that _Blaine did not expect. "So go on, spill what were you talking about?"

Blaine's speechless and it takes a lot for him to be speechless. He sucks his bottom lip into his mouth and drops his head, concentrating hard on the bar and wiping it down with the cloth in his hand.

Thankfully, Lily comes wandering back over, smile plastered on her face, eyes sparkling. Oh, Cooper's just walked in. That's why she's so happy. Great.

"Here are the next orders Blaine. Hey, you mind if I just – oh, hey Coop!" Lily wraps her tiny arms around Cooper's neck and Blaine's sure he spots a little exchange of some saliva somewhere. He's got enough to ignore, adding something else to his list shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

"Blaine, we uh, have something to tell you." White wine guy looks just as intrigued as Blaine does. He cocks his head to the side and eyes Cooper and Lily. White wine guy appears to be doing the same thing.

"We?" He repeats and stops in the process of making a vodka and coke. He notes that Cooper's got his arm around Lily's waist and he can't deny that he's seen this coming - he just didn't expect his worst nightmare to actually be true.

"Yeah, uh, Cooper and I-" Blaine stops her right there before she can say anything further. Not only does he not want hear what's about to leave Lily's mouth, but he's also not in the mood, his brain isn't functioning correctly tonight. He has very important business to attend too.

"Can we save this conversation for later guys? I think I know what you're about to say. You don't need to spell it out for me." White wine guy chuckles and Blaine turns his head to glare forcefully at him. A stranger isn't laughing at his expense. But White wine guy doesn't stop laughing, and he has to put his hand over his mouth to silence his laughter.

This isn't fair. Blaine hasn't done anything to deserve this.

"Lily, you have work to do, and unless you want Benji on your back all night, I suggest you do it." Lily rolls her eyes and smirks at him, blowing him a kiss as she gathers the drinks, puts them on the tray and then goes to take them to the customers. Blaine turns his attention to his brother. "And you," he says, pointing the cloth at him so it waves erratically in front of his face. "I don't want to speak to you all night, now here is your beer," Blaine twists the bottle top off the beer bottle, slides it across the bar to Cooper and then dismisses him. "Move." Fortunately for him, Cooper does as he is told.

"Looks like you're going to have some fun." White wine guy speaks once Cooper has seated himself near the front of the stage, beer in hand, watching Lily wander around the room. Blaine wants to puke.

"Yeah, well I kind of saw it coming. I guess my mind was just putting it off for as long as possible." Blaine decides he should get White wine guy his traditional white wine rather than making the poor guy wait any longer. He's probably already sick of listening to Blaine's troubles. Six weeks of Blaine's shitty life would do that to a person. White wine guy has probably gone insane by now.

"Thank you." White wine guy accepts the drink and hands Blaine some money. Blaine refuses and instead walks round the other side of the bar, next to White wine guy and pulls up a stool.

"Listen, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." White wine guy looks curious. He edges his seat closer to Blaine. Blaine's heart rate speeds up, he feels bad for having to tell White wine guy this, but he knows it's the right thing to do.

"So, like two weeks ago that guy, you know the Finn one, came in here with a girl…"

"Oh yeah, he said, his girlfriend Rachel." White wine guy says. Blaine stutters around his own breath. Wait? He _knew_. And he wasn't bothered. Now that's just creepy.

"Oh, right well, never mind then I just - you know what? It doesn't matter." Blaine quickly hops off the stool and walks back around the bar, head hanging low. He feels so embarrassed. It didn't cross his mind once that White wine guy might know, because well, he sure as hell didn't know his boyfriend was cheating on him.

"Wait, you didn't think-" Before White wine guy can even finish his sentence he's doubled over and laughing hysterically. Alright, so it wasn't the first thing that popped into Blaine's mind. Blaine was sure it wouldn't be the first thing that popped into anyone else's either. Now the guy is just being rude.

"Oh my god, Blaine, Finn's my brother!" Or not. How on earth could Blaine have been so stupid? Of course Finn is White wine guy's brother. He seems to recall White wine guy telling him about his brother too.

"Yeah, well you thought Cooper was _my_ boyfriend!" White wine guy abruptly stops laughing. And wow, Blaine takes a chance with that one, but apparently it's true. Boom. "So I guess we're even."

Blaine's pretty impressed with himself that White wine guy is blushing profusely.

"Anderson! Get on that stage now!" Benji's grating voice pulls Blaine from his trance, and he realises he's been staring at White wine guy, though White wine guy has been staring back.

"On my way." Blaine steps away from White wine guy and unties his apron. He starts to walk off, stops thinks for a split second and then turns back. "I've been dying to ask you since I met you. What's your name?"

"Kurt." Blaine grins broadly and then jogs off toward the stage.

* * *

"That was an awesome set man!" Lily high fives Blaine and jumps on his back, giggling manically.

"I'm not talking to you." He shakes her a little, but her grip is too tight and she refuses to move. Instead, she places hot kiss all over his neck, giggling into his ear and making him shiver.

"Oh come on, it's not like it's the end of the world, B." Cooper comes from the side of Blaine and wraps his arm around him, kissing Lily as he does so. That feeling of sickness returns in Blaine's stomach again, and, wow it's going to take a lot to get used to seeing that all the time.

"Uh, yes it is." He counters and finally manages to shake Lily from his back. He leaves the two love birds to make out in the middle of the lounge as he wanders back to the bar where Benji is waiting to clap him on the shoulder.

"Great show tonight, Blainers!" God, that nickname, it should be shot, buried, brought back to life and then shot again for good measure.

Blaine tries to ignore Benji as he searches around the bar for White wine guy, or as he now knows him as _Kurt_. Blaine knows he was here, he certainly wasn't imagining it. Nor was he imagining looking at Kurt while he sang _Teenage Dream_ on the stage. Cooper and Lily can confirm that.

"Hey, Benj?" Blaine turns to look at Benji, stopping his monologue. "The guy that was sat here-"

"Oh yeah, the one you've been flirting with for the past six weeks?" Blaine can't really deny that, because it's true. But that's not the point. He wants to know where Kurt's gone. "He left like as soon as you finished your set. Didn't say why, he just took off."

Blaine doesn't want to have to wait another week for him to come back and for the chance to finally get to ask him out on a date. But. by the looks and sounds of it, there's nothing he's able to do.

"Right, well get to work now Mister, you have cleaning up to do." Benji ushers him down to where Kurt was sat before and taps the bar beside Kurt's empty wine glass. Blaine sighs and picks it up but, when he does so, it dislodges the bar mat underneath and a napkin that was held down by the glass comes out. Blaine frowns as he picks it up and opens it out. He glances around the bar to see if anyone left it after Kurt, but it doesn't appear that way.

Benji is nowhere to be seen. Lily and Cooper are cleaning up the empty glasses from around the bar and another worker –Blaine thinks he's called Frank, but he can't be sure- is ringing the bell for last call and a few people are rushing up to the bar, whilst others are exiting the bar and into the New York night, just like Kurt had done not long ago.

Blaine shuffles down the bar when the people start to arrive for drinks and he tucks the napkin into his apron pocket in order to aid Frank –or whatever his name is- in serving the customers.

Together, it doesn't take them long and, as soon as Frank has finished with the last person, he hangs up his own apron and scurries off out the door. Lily and Cooper have retreated to the far corner of the room, two trays of dirty glasses on the table in front of them, but neither seems to be fussed about it.

Blaine decides to leave them alone for a few more minutes. He's nice enough to do that for his brother and best friend.

Whilst he's alone, and Benji's God knows where, he decides to pull out that napkin from his apron pocket. He carefully unfolds the thin paper and notices there is scrawl on it.

There's what looks like a cell phone number written down and then _'Kurt'_ in an elegant script. Also, in the corner it says; '_Benji, keep your hands off this, it's for Blaine, the cutie who thinks my brother is my boyfriend.'_

Blaine wishes he was here so he could tease Kurt back about thinking the same thing. But he isn't and all he's left with is a cell phone number. And honestly, he's not bothered in the slightest.

* * *

**And thank you for listening to my inner workings. Sometimes they are crazy, but I think this one was reasonably sane.**

**I've decided I'm like a review whore, I need reviews to live. Please review :)**

**Until next time guys. **

**XOXO.**


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